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West on Track welcomes series of new developments on Western Rail Corridor

Press Release Monday Sept 3rd 2012

The West on Track community campaign has welcomed the announcement by Iarnród Éireann today of a range of new developments on the Galway-Limerick section of the Western Rail Corridor, as well as the outstanding success of this year's summer services which are up 50% over the rest of the year. The announcements include a range of special student fares, free car parking at a number of stations, the availability of wi-fi on all services and the continuing introduction of Inter City Railcars on the route.

Free car parking at Craughwell, Ardrahan and Gort

As part of a range of measures being taken to promote the service to capitalize on the additional summer demand through the rest of the year Iarnród Éireann has announced that car parking at Craughwell, Ardrahan and Gort Stations is to be free from Monday 10th September until the end of the year as part of a promotion for Western Rail Corridor customers.

The company has said that the traditional seasonal boost to passenger numbers on the line from the summer tourist months has once again been demonstrated, with numbers up by 50% during the summer months over the rest of the year.

Student Fares

Students can also avail of monthly commuter tickets along the line. This enables students from locations along the route to commute daily to the major third level institutions in Galway and Limerick, saving the cost of renting. For example, unlimited travel for a month between Ennis and Galway is €196.50 equivalent to a per journey cost of just over €4.50 for a student commuting daily Monday to Friday. Adult commuter tickets are also available, with savings of up to 52% available through the Taxsaver scheme through commuter's employers - full information is available at www.taxsaver.ie

Intercity Rail Cars & wi-fi

Key services on the route - the 06.20 Galway-Limerick, 18.05 Limerick-Galway, 18.30 Galway-Ennis and 20.15 Ennis-Galway - are now operated by Iarnród Éireann's newest Intercity railcar fleet, which also operates Galway/Dublin and Limerick/Dublin services. In addition, these trains are equipped with free wi-fi, enabling customers to use laptops or mobile devices for work or entertainment while travelling. The regional fleet operating the remainder of Western Rail Corridor services will also be equipped with free wi-fi during September, meaning all WRC services will have wi-fi.

A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said "we are working continuously to improve the quality and value of travelling by rail, and this range of improvements to Western Rail Corridor services is in response to customer feedback and demand. We hope to welcome new customers to the service, and will be promoting these changes across the route." A spokesman for West on Track welcomed the announcements by Iarnród Éireann and the positive engagement by Iarnród Éireann with the community groups along the line.

"Iarnród Éireann is now working closely with the community and further positive developments are in the pipeline. We are confident that the construction of an important new station at Oranmore as part of Phase 1 of the ongoing Western Rail Corridor project will lead to further strong growth across the route in the near future with increasing numbers of customers availing of both commuter and inter-city services," said the spokesman.